Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018)

Director: Hiroyuki Seshita, Kobun Shizuno

Written By: Gen Urobuchi

After our hero’s destruction of MechaGodzilla City during the climax of the last film, the survivors must now deal with the emergence of the Exif’s sinister god, King Ghidorah.

With the starship crippled by a Bilusaludo mutiny and our heroes stranded on Earth’s hostile surface, things are looking grim. After expunging so much energy against the living metal city, Godzilla rests in a state of slumber as it restores its energy.

During these dispairing times, most of the surviving humans turn to the Exif and their mysterious religion. These desperate survivors are unwitting sacrifices in the Exif’s sinister plan and after a massive cull which wipes out not only the starship, but most of the remaining survivors on Earth, King Ghidorah arrives to consume the Earth.

Even Godzilla seems helpless against this alien menace, unless the few remaining humans can figure out a way to stop the Exif’s wicked plan. The indiginous humans meanwhile put out a call for help to their own god, Mothra.

This one was a slog to get through, on paper it sounds exciting enough, Godzilla vs Ghidorah but the reality is a dull one. The battle between the two drags on for far to long and little actually happens, unless religious debate and preachy dialogue are your cup of tea in which case you’ll love it. Almost every character is killed but by this point you probably wont care. Be it due to protagonist Haruo’s constant moaning or the pure stupidity of everyone else.

Mothra does pop up, for a five second cameo so that’s cool and Ghidorah’s new form is a genuinely interesting take on a character who tends to look a little ridiculous.

Ultimately the survivors integrate with the natives, which, to be fair is what they should have done in the first place. This series has been on a downhill trajectory from the start, and unfortunately the high concept sci-fi of the first episode is gradually squandered until all we are left with is a dull climax which reeks of missed opportunity.

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Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018)

Director: Hiroyuki Seshita, Tetsuya Yamada

Written By: Gen Urobuchi, Sadayuki Murai, Tetsuya Yamada

Toho’s animated saga reaches the midway point as the real Godzilla, awakened at the previous film's climax, reigns unchallenged.

The few survivors of POTM regroup under the protection of a group of primitive human descendants who have taken to living beneath the Earth’s surface. These humans seem to display some striking anomalies and worship a mysterious egg, all that remains of their ancient benefactor.

The surviving Bilusaludo recognize the mysterious metal these primitives use to craft their weapons and uncover the remains of Mechagodzilla, now evolved into a sentient city, cloaked in a metallic mist. Reactivating the city, a plan is hatched to destroy Godzilla once and for all, but the cost may prove too high for our human survivors.

There are some interesting concepts at play here, rather than just recycle Mechagodzilla for another ruckus, the writers give us something unexpected with a sentient nano-technology effectively making MechaGodzilla smaller than ever before and a far more insidious threat.

As a follow-on from my previous post, I now recognize the alien Bilusaludo, perhaps the reason I struggled is that they all seem to look exactly the same. Anyhow, these techno-nutjobs end up being more of a threat to the planet than Godzilla himself.

Speaking of which, the Earth is a big place, now that the survivors know where Godzilla is couldn’t they just park on the opposite side of the planet? Or just live underground with the surviving humans? The governing body’s plans to ‘live on the moon’ and raid the Earth for supplies seems a little impractical no?

I’m still not a fan of this Godzilla either, it’s certainly intimidating but it has no personality. Every previous iteration of the King of the Monsters has something that sets it apart from the others, be it a subtle suit design or mannerism. The AniGoji just seems to be ‘big’ and that’s it, I wish they’d played more off of its supposed ‘Plant’ aspect, perhaps leaning more into a Biolante-inspired design.

We are still leaning hard into the Sci-Fi aspect, with some big set pieces and ideas that would prove too costly to put into a live-action film but this feels like a step down from the previous installment.

Ultimately we are left with a tease of what is yet to come, a single name, an eater of worlds, Ghidorah.

**

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017)

Director: Hiroyuki Seshita, Kobun Shizuno

Written By: Gen Urobuchi

The first in a trilogy of Netflix animated movies, POTM introduces us to a broken band of survivors who fled Earth at the end of the 20th century after the world was ravaged by Kaiju and most savagely, Godzilla.

For 20 years these interstellar refugees have drifted the cosmos in search of a habitable planet but with their resources running low, the decision is made to return to Earth. One warp jump later and the bedraggled survivors return to an unrecognizable Earth. Due to the complexities of faster-than-light travel, 20,000 years have passed on Earth while only 20 years have for our unlucky spacefarers.

Expedition leaders soon find that Godzilla has survived and a plan is made to kill the beast once and for all, but nothing is as it seems on this inhospitable version of our homeworld.

Go big or go home is the motto here with the film making the most of its animated format to include a mutated planet, giant spacecraft, battle mechs, and the largest iteration of Godzilla to date. I was not overly impressed with the Godzilla design on show here, but I’ll reserve judgment for now.

The plot is further complicated by humanity’s integration with two alien species who are identical to humans in appearance, it can be hard to tell who is who and what is what. One of the alien species, the Exif can usually be identified due to their elfin appearance and religious leanings but I couldn’t easily identify the other race, the Bilusaludo.

The film was enjoyable, if easily forgettable. There are some pretty sweet action scenes and the spacecraft is very well done.

The anime Godzilla, known as AniGoji, combines the classic silhouette of Godzilla with unique traits inspired by Kongōrikishi statues. This muscular design emphasizes Godzilla’s power, evokes the enormity of trees, and gives it a deity-like presence. The goal was not anatomical accuracy but to create an imposing figure. During the head profile design phase, features such as hair curls, horns, Varan-like fins, and lower jaw spikes were considered but ultimately rejected in favor of simple chin spikes for Godzilla Earth. The blue eyes of the monster are meant to convey intelligence, akin to a philosopher.

The motif of trees was chosen for the anime Godzilla’s design after establishing the concept of Godzilla as the "peak of the evolution of life." Co-director Kobun Shizuno explained that this choice was influenced by several factors: trees are the largest and most widespread organisms on Earth, they can live for thousands of years with minimal requirements of light and water, and their hard, fibrous tissues both protect and support their massive structures. 

Additionally, trees' biology includes trace elements and the generation of electrons through photosynthesis, suggesting that a plant-based Godzilla could emit powerful electromagnetic waves. Shizuno elaborated, "We expanded from the idea of a plant undergoing super-evolution, incorporating metallic elements into its cellular structure, transforming its entire body into a power generator. I heard that plants are actually at the top of Earth's evolutionary hierarchy. In this 'planet of the monsters,' I envisioned Godzilla as a massive 'world tree' at the center of its unique environment."

Creating CG model maquettes for Godzilla involved a process similar to clay molding, where a general shape was defined first and details were gradually added. Some concept maquettes included moss coloration on the back, upper dorsal plates, and other areas less likely to rub against surfaces.

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